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When many people think of traditional hydro-excavating, the industries that come to mind are typically oil, gas and utility. However, dedicated hydro excavation services are on the rise within the municipal contracting market. It goes without saying that a dedicated hydro excavator does hydro-excavating more efficiently and more safely than a traditional combo truck with hydro excavation capabilities.
The Department of Transportation, Street and Highway departments offer many different opportunities for a contractor with a hydro excavator. The hydrovac’s high-powered vacuum successfully removes 100% of material within a catch basin. Dedicated catch basin cleaners offered by RAMVAC, are trailer-mounted units that deliver power without the large footprint of a truck. The high-pressure water on a hydro excavator is an effective tool for digging holes for posts, utility poles and street signs. Municipal needs would also require the use of a hydro excavator to dig trenches when installing culvert pipe or daylighting before road expansion projects.
Water departments also employ the services of hydro-vac truck excavators in numerous ways. Valve box maintenance requires the use of high-pressure water to locate buried boxes. In addition, high-pressure vacuums and water is needed to clean the boxes. Installing new water services is a breeze with a hydro-vac truck, eliminating the need for hand-digging and using its vacuum capabilities when working with water-filled holes. A hydro ex truck becomes very useful during a municipal water main break to assess the damage to the pipe. This is especially helpful during the winter months when hot water is needed to cut through the frozen ground.
Utility departments are another municipal entity that requires the use of a hydro excavator. Hydrovac operators are contracted to daylight for locating underground utilities and to work alongside drilling rigs vacuuming up the drill mud. In many cases, hydro excavators can easily replace the use of old trenchers, dump trucks, equipment trailers, backhoes, and multiple pickup trucks, freeing up the workspace required on busy roadways. This is especially true when utilizing the mid-size RAMVAC HX truck series, which offers debris body sizes of 3 and 6 cubic yards, providing you the ability to replace other expensive pieces of equipment while still limiting the working space required by a full-size hydro truck.
Now understanding the growth potential of the municipal market, there are many hydro excavators available to you, how do you choose the right one? The RAMVAC HX truck series offers a number of features that have been packaged together in the shortest truck on the market, that is simple to operate and simple to maintain. With no transfer case, RAMVAC trucks operate in neutral allowing for vac-on-the-go as standard equipment. RAMVAC trucks have no computers or CANbus, eliminating complex trouble-shooting while requiring very limited chassis integration.
Furthermore, the HX series offers a vacuum enhancer in conjunction with a reversible blower, providing operators the ability to burp the truck to clear obstructions from the boom tube, as well as pressure offload debris from the tank. The standard Dig Deep Boom allows for 330 degrees of rotation, is rear-mounted for increased efficiency in curbside applications, can dig a 12’ hole utilizing only one 6’ dig tube, and has the ability to lower the boom hose to ground level for ease of maintenance and increased operator safety.
For more information on the RAMVAC line of vacuum trucks, please visit RAMVAC by Sewer Equipment. RAMVAC products are also available to rent through a number of financing programs. Visit Rock Rental to see rental and pre-owned inventory that is available for immediate delivery.
